Pageturners Festival live from Cleckheaton and Brighouse

I had a cracking day yesterday with two schools as part of the Kirklees and Calderdale Schools’ Library Services Pageturners Festival. Thank you to school librarians Amanda Raby, at Whitcliffe Mount, and Stephanie Cooper at Brighouse High (hiding at the back of the second photo down), for all the preparations and planning ahead of my event. Thank you also to Alison Roberts and Shelley Bullas from the Pageturners Festival for their introductions to my sessions – it always makes an author feel cherished and respected when they have a formal welcome and see a display of their work when they arrive.

Whitcliffe Mount

Brighouse High

I was genuinely impressed with both schools. They both had thriving libraries and all the children I met were avid readers, keen to share their love of books and their own writing. It reinforced how vital the role of the school librarian is in encouraging reading for pleasure. They create these wonderful, safe environments for pupils to explore and discover and share literature of all kinds. Oh, and they invite authors in to meet these enthusiastic, inspired readers they’ve created. Librarians, I salute you!

If any of you reading this live in the Kirklees or Calderdale regions (or beyond) the Pageturners Festival culminates this Saturday with a Grand Finale at Huddersfield University, kicking off at 10.30 am with prize-winning author Paul Dowswell. Go see!